At St Matt’s we want to share resources and equip one another as much as possible. Below is a list of different resources used and recommended by members of the church, from books to apps to video podcasts. Please use these in your PODs or as individuals, and share with others if you find them useful!
Apps
HTB Bible in one year – HTB resource (accessed through iTunes).
Bible app – from YouVersion, on more than 180 million devices around the world! Rated the number 1 Bible app.
Bible for Kids – the newest member of the YouVersion family of apps.
Power Thoughts Devotional – Based on Joyce Meyer’s New York Times bestseller Power Thoughts, this devotional includes 365 opportunities to tap into God’s power in your daily life by thinking and speaking His way (accessed through iTunes).
Podcasts
New Wine – a mix of past New Wine speakers (accessed through iTunes).
North Point Community Church – talks (audio or video) by Andy Stanley recommended by some of our PODs.
24-7 Prayer – seasonal video podcasts during Lent and Advent.
Websites
Read, hear, and study Scripture at the world’s most-visited Christian website. Grow your faith with devotionals, Bible reading plans, and mobile apps.
From Bible Gateway, a range of plans including chronological, audio, and Gospels in 40 days.
FaithGateway is an online community for readers to discover great content and engage with their favourite Christian authors.
The Fellowship of Contemplative Prayer
Resources and material for contemplative prayer.
Daily prayers and meditations from Sacred Space.
Free daily devotional from UCB.
A test designed to give you a snapshot of your Base and Phase ministry gifts as articulated in Ephesians 4 (Apostle, Prophet, Teacher, Evangelist, Pastor) as put together by Mike Breen and 3DM.
Retreat Centres
St Cuthman’s (Near Haywards Heath)
Crowhurst Christian Healing Centre (near Battle)
Ashburnham (Battle)
Lee Abbey (Devon)
Beauty From Ashes (Hadlow)
Quiet days
Recommended Reading
Celtic Daily Prayer – Prayers and Readings from the Northumbria Community
This has 2 different years of daily readings (The ‘Aidan’ Series and the ‘Finan’ Series). Obviously particularly good for those interested in the Celtic tradition. Great for hearing the immense wisdom of those who have gone before; very helpful for perspective and building one’s faith.
Common Prayer – A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals – Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hargrove, Enuma Okoro
These daily readings begin the year in December. Produced in 2010 the readings also refer to the faith of those in history as well as nowadays. The book comes out of Christians that live in community together in America with a heart for serving the community in which they live. It is both inspiring and challenging.
Positive Sisterhood – Keren Dibbens-Wyatt
Positive Sisterhood is a heartfelt call to women of God everywhere to join together to make the world a better place for all. It is a guide to what ails us and what will cure us that is both deeply spiritual and utterly practical. Referring to popular culture in addition to topical and classic writing on the issue of women’s roles in society, home, church and ethics in the 21st Century, Keren (from our own congregation!) takes us on a scriptural journey through the problems in our lives today and offers starting points for change.
The Meaning is in the Waiting – Paula Gooder
This is the first in a series of books commissioned in consultation with John Sentamu. It can be described as “The Archbishop of York’s Advent book”. Its theme is overtly an Advent one, yet subsequent books will range over other biblical and seasonal topics.Paula Gooder provides a profoundly biblical guide to the season of Advent and we explore its central theme of waiting (something we are not good at in our modern culture) in the company of the biblical characters who feature prominently in the lectionary readings for the season: Abraham and Sarah who waited for a child, Isaiah and the prophets who waited for judgement and redemption, John the Baptist whose role was to wait in the wilderness until the prophecies he foretold were realised, Mary whose waiting began in pregnancy and continued as she stood at the foot of the cross. Arranged for daily reading, this offers an exquisite meditation on the spirituality of waiting – the active doing of nothing – as a way of enhancing our lives and bringing us closer to God.
God on Mute – Pete Greig
God on Mute was written out of Pete’s own experience of the miraculous power of prayer alongside the pain of unanswered prayer and the common human struggle to find faith with that paradox. Just after the birth of the 24-7 Prayer Movement and of his second child Pete’s wife, Samie was diagnosed with a massive brain tumor. Subsequent surgery to remove the cancer was successful but she continues to suffer terrible epilepsy and his deepest prayers for her healing did not work. Tracking Christ’s own unanswered prayer through Gethsemane and Golgotha, the book leads the reader to Easter Sunday where miracles arise – often when we least expect it. Pete is passionate about the message of God on Mute because it will help many hurting people to hang onto God when they need him more than ever before.
Choose Life: 365 Readings for Radical Disciples – Simon Guilleaud
This unique set of daily readings from bestselling author Simon Guillebaud encourages the reader to live the Christian life without compromise and without restraint; to live on full throttle and with utter abandonment to Christ.
Simon Guillebaud has lived in Burundi since his early twenties. He takes unimaginable risks so much so that he didn’t expect to live to the age of 30. He sees miraculous results time and again as he works tirelessly for the salvation, peace and prosperity of the country he loves and daily gives his life for. Burundi is a place where choices are vivid, stark and sometimes deadly. It is a front line state in a fragile democracy seeking to overcome a bloody past. The spiritual battle between the forces of light and the repressive power of the local witchdoctors is very real. It is in this context that Simon Guillebaud has learned the lessons he shares in this volume.
Succinct and engaging, these daily reading cover a separate topic every day. The range is striking and profound as Simon shares the things he has learned through the council of the Holy Spirit. Those who engage with this unique devotional will be challenged and ultimately changed.
The Complete Book of Discipleship – Bill Hull
Well organised and readily accessible, The Complete Book of Discipleship pulls together into one convenient, comprehensive volume relevant topics to discipleship such as spiritual growth, transformation, spiritual disciplines, and discipleship in the local church and beyond.
Finding Sanctuary: Monastic Steps for Everyday Life – Abbot Christopher Jamison
No matter how hard you work, being too busy is not inevitable. Silence and contemplation are not just for monks and nuns, they are natural parts of life. Yet to keep hold of this truth in the rush of modern living you need the support of other people and sensible advice from wise guides. By learning to listen in new ways, people’s lives can change and the abbot offers some monastic steps that help this transition to a more spiritual life.
Weak Enough for God to Use – Dennis Lennon
Weak enough for God to use is an inspiring and thought-provoking exploration of the biblical basis for God’s using ordinary people to do mighty things for him. Drawing on the experiences of people from the Bible and from contemporary life, Dennis Lennon asserts that it is only when we allow God to work through us in our weakness that we discover authentic spiritual power.
The Screwtape Letters – C.S. Lewis
A milestone in the history of popular theology, ‘The Screwtape Letters’ is an iconic classic on spiritual warfare and the power of the devil.
This profound and striking narrative takes the form of a series of letters from Screwtape, a devil high in the Infernal Civil Service, to his nephew Wormwood, a junior colleague engaged in his first mission on earth trying to secure the damnation of a young man who has just become a Christian. Although the young man initially looks to be a willing victim, he changes his ways and is ‘lost’ to the young devil.
Essential Writings – John Main
John Main (1926-1982), an English Benedictine monk, pioneered the practice of Christian meditation. His genius was to recover a way into the contemplative experience for ordinary people within the Christian tradition. Hailed by Bede Griffiths as the “most important spiritual guide in the church today, ” Main’s work inspired the foundation of the World Community for Christian Meditation and a network of hundreds of meditation groups around the world.John Main introduces the practice of Christian meditation for modern people who wish to deepen their spiritual lives.
Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long walk of Faith – Henri Nouwen
As a priest, pastor, and professor of spirituality at Notre Dame, Yale, and Harvard, Nouwen offered spiritual direction to many students, but his famous course on spiritual direction was never recorded during his lifetime. Now, in Spiritual Direction, the first of a series, one of Nouwen’s students (Michael Christensen) and one of his editors (Rebecca Laird) have developed his courses and practice of spiritual direction into a book of profound wisdom for living a deep spiritual life.
Transforming Discipleship – Greg Ogden
Written by an American pastor, this book looks specifically at the need for discipleship in the local church and how this might be achieved. So this might be of interest to anyone wanting to look into this aspect in depth.
Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Self – Richard Rohr
In Falling Upward (and in many of his other teachings), Richard Rohr talks at length about ego (or the False Self) and how it gets in the way of spiritual maturity, especially if its preoccupations continue into the second half of life. But if there’s a False Self, is there also a True Self? What is it? How is it found? Why does it matter? And what does it have to do with the spiritual journey? In his new book, the author likens True Self to a diamond, buried deep within us, formed under the intense pressure of our lives and needing to be searched for, uncovered, and separated from all the debris of ego that surrounds it. In a sense True Self must, like Jesus, be resurrected, and that process involves not resuscitation but transformation.
Landmarks; An Ignition journey – Margaret Silf
A practical book that helps readers discover and deepen their own spiritual journeys. It is illustrated with line drawings and diagrams, and contains exercises and suggestions for prayer and reflection.
The Radical Disciple – John Stott
Published in 2010 (he died in July 2011) it has been described as ‘A farewell book from one of the giants of our generation.’ He outlines eight key aspects of discipleship. Not surprisingly, there is a real sense of wisdom and balance gained over years of faith and study.
Introduction to the Devout Life – St Frances de Sales
How to live a holy life in the secular world is the focus of this masterpiece of Christian literature by a 16th-century priest. Drawn from the letters of St. Francis de Sales, this enduring spiritual guide offers clear and direct advice about praying, resisting temptation, and maintaining devotion to God.
Story of a Soul – St Therese of Lisieux
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, known as “The Little Flower of Jesus”, was beatified in 1923. The Story of a Soul is her autobiography, and also includes letters and poems.
Seeking God: The Way of St Benedict – Esther De Waal
A contemporary spirtitual classic in which the ancient and gentle wisdom of the Rule of St Benedict is explored in relation to the demands of modern living and the importance of balance between prayer, work and study.
